An olfactory distraction

Most people are fascinated by Egyptian mythology because of the gods, the goddesses, the temples, the rituals, the mummies… When I saw a 3D documentary called ‘Mummy: The Inside Story’ at the British Museum last night, all I could think about was one thing, the same thing I always ponder in the Egyptian section of the museum – do Mummies stink?

I was really hoping that we would have question time after the film so that I could ask this very question. Sure, the 3D glasses allowed us to SEE into the remains of the unopened, 3000-year-old mummy of Nesperennub – into his cranium and spine and muscles and inner ‘secrets’ - but I really felt like something was missing. I was hoping for something more… olfactory.

As the final credits rolled, we were ushered into a tiny room featuring Nesperennub and his wife in thick glass cabinets. But, alas, not an Egyptologist in sight. Desperate for answers, I subtly sniffed the glass surface. Nothing. With little left to do, my thoughts came back to the thing that I know best – food.

What food would a Mummy smell like? Thankfully, I picked up some clues during the documentary to point me in the right direction.

First clue: Immediately after death, Egyptian bodies were covered head to toe in salt and left for 40 days and forty nights in order to withdraw excess moisture. This got me thinking about two key food groups: salted herring and cured meats (particularly salami… no proscuitto). Second clue: Once the salt is cleaned from the skin, the body is painted with clear resin. Obviously, this leads me to another possible hypothesis: toffee drizzled profiterole cake.

But neither of these clues have ‘nailed’ the issue for me. I will remain unsatisfied until, one day, I can smell a Mummy for myself.